The present invention relates to electrodeless high-intensity-discharge (HID) lamps and, more particularly, to novel electrodes for initiating a plasma discharge within the arc space of the electrodeless HID lamp.
It is now well known to provide a toroidal light-emitting plasma within the envelope of a HID lamp. The induction arc plasma depends upon a solendoidal, divergence-free electric field for its maintenance; the field is created by the changing magnetic field of an excitation coil, which is typically in the form of a solenoid. It is necessary to develop a very high electric field gradient across the arc tube to start the plasma discharge; it is difficult to develop a sufficiently high electric field gradient, especially in the associated excitation coil, because the coil current may be prohibitively high, even if it is to be provided only on a pulse basis. Further, providing a very high electric field gradient may be impossible because the necessary field-per-turn of the excitation coil may exceed the turn-to-turn electrical breakdown rating of that coil. Thus, it is difficult to provide some means for starting induction-driven HID lamps, and it is also difficult to provide for hot restarting of the same type of lamp. It is therefore highly desirable to provide some means for starting the HID lamp plasma discharge, which starting means can be easily utilized with commercially available lamps, under normal ambient conditions.